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Seneca The Younger: The Life Of Seneca's School Of Philosophy

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Seneca the Younger (4BC-65AD) was born in Cordoba to a cultured and wealthy family steeped with teachers and literary figures. He studied philosophy and oration in the school of Sextii which merged stoicism with Neo-Pythagoreanism .
Following a life filled with ailments, imperial wrath and exile; Seneca returned to Rome in 49AD where he married a wealthy woman, built a powerful group of friends and tutored the future emperor Nero. After Nero became emperor in (), Seneca progressed from being consul to even becoming Prime Minister where he spent his career trying to implement reform and as a result being known for good government; but ultimately to no avail. He retired in 62AD, where he withdrew from public life and wrote some of his best works. However in 65AD, Seneca was implicated in a conspiracy where he was sentenced to suicide by Nero. 1
Seneca’s school of thought is classified as Roman Stoic; in fact, he is a major figure in that brand of philosophy. Roman Stoics according to the Scholar Gretchen Reydam-Schils, “adapted Greek doctrine to create a model of the self that served to connect philosophical ideals with traditional societal values.” That is, the Romans tried to blend philosophical ideals with traditional societal values while trying to implement them in everyday life. In essence, the stoics were interested in the teaching of self-control in order to overcome what they call “destructive emotions” such as anger, envy, jealousy and others. To them a

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